Sometimes, just having the best player in the world on the court is all you need. With fellow all-stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh sitting to rest minor injuries as the season winds down, LeBron James returned to the court after a three-game absence and showed no signs of rust in leading Miami to a 106-87 victory. Sporting a game-high plus/minus rating of +22, James asserted himself during his somewhat limited minutes in recording 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists. 11 of those points came in the opening quarter when the Heat jumped out to a 15-point lead. In fact, during the first and fourth quarters when James played the majority of his minutes, the Heat outscored the Sixers 62-29. To Philadelphia’s credit, they fought back to pull the game to tie the game in the third quarter, but the Sixers had dug themselves too deep a hole to fully complete the comeback.
With James around to draw their attention, the Sixers did a poor job defending the three point arc, as the Heat scorched the nets in shooting 14-25 from downtown. Seven different players tallied a three-pointer for Miami, led by Ray Allen (3-3) and Mario Chalmers (3-8). The Sixers also had no response to the high-strung energy of Heat reserve Chris Andersen. The man they call Birdman recorded a game-high 15 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive glass, in just 25 minutes. With LeBron back in action, the Sixers absolutely had to win the battle of the boards and limit the outside shooting, and they did neither of those things.
One encouraging sign was Sixers’ all-star Jrue Holiday getting back on track in the scoring department. Holiday scored a team-high 18 points on 7-17 shooting, including 3-4 from behind the arc. Two of his biggest weaknesses still showed themselves, however, as he only recorded one attempt at the foul line and committed 5 turnovers. The next progression of Holiday’s game has to include taking better care of the basketball and attacking the rim more rather than settling for as many long jumpers as he does. He has certainly made strides this year and a limited supporting cast may be partially to blame but he still has a way to go.
Among other Sixers in action, Spencer Hawes recorded another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Dorell Wright returned to action after sitting Friday night with an elbow injury, although he may have still been affected by it as he shot just 1-7 from behind the arc. The Sixers have a couple days off before finishing their four-game road trip in Brooklyn Tuesday night.
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